Wednesday, February 25, 2015

David Ortiz: high and tight, low and away. That's all you need to think about.

I just heard David Ortiz (Fat Papi) run his mouth on MLB Network about how he needs to strut around between pitches so that he can think deep thoughts about what might happen next. All any batter or pitcher considers is:

high and tight, low and away

RedSox at Orioles 31/3/14
by Keith Allison
via Wikimedia Commons

That's all it ever was and all it ever will be. It's one or the other. Pick one and play ball.

Instead of issuing meaningless fines to Ortiz and others for violating the meager efforts to speed up the pace of play, punish the team. Call a strike. Call the batter out. I've long advocated: you step out, you're out. Teammates will turn on a player who is putting himself above the team.

Put some teeth into this effort. Otherwise, you'll get the naked defiance displayed today by Ortiz and then the inevitable drifting back into bad habits.